Berkley garage explosion caused by marijuana wax accident

BERKLEY, Mich. (FOX 2) - A garage explodes in Berkley - and a month later police revealed the explosion wasn't a turkey frying accident.

Several garages and homes around that sustained damage after the resident was making marijuana wax.

It happened Nov. 20th, two days before Thanksgiving when the garage exploded in the 2700 block of Phillips in Berkley. The power of the blast leveled it.

At the time, emergency responders didn't know what caused it.

"I was sitting on my couch I was holding my dog and I felt the house shake," said neighbor Nicole Menard.

"Several garages and homes around that home sustained damage as well as some vehicles that were parked right in front of the garage," said Matt Koehn, director of public safety.

Menard said she and her neighbors had a theory that a turkey fryer may have caused it - but they were wrong.

"We determined it appears as if butane was being used to process marijuana and that's what caused the explosion," Koehn said. "We believe the male resident was making marijuana wax when it exploded."

Police say he was injured in the blast.

"It's very dangerous and obviously this shows if you don't do it right - first of all you shouldn't do it at all, it's illegal -- but if you do it wrong there are serious repercussions."

Police have not arrested the home owner yet - they are waiting for lab results from the explosion. When they get those results they will submit their findings to the prosecutor’s office.